Derek Jeter Scores 3000th Hit, Fan Returns Ball [VIDEO]

Playing in front of a sold-out hometown crowd on Saturday, Derek Jeter sent his record-setting 3,000th hit deep into left-field, making him the 28th major leaguer and first New York Yankees player to reach the hitting milestone.

And who caught the potentially money-making ball? Christian Lopez, a 23-year-old fan whose girlfriend gave him tickets to the game as a birthday present.

Surrounded by security and hustled away to the Steinbrenner family luxury box, Lopez was asked what he wanted in exchange for the ball. His only requests were season tickets, some signed swag, and the chance to present the ball to Jeter himself – all of which were accommodated.

“It wasn’t about the money,” Lopez said. “It was about a milestone and I wasn’t going to take that away from [Jeter]. Money’s cool and all, but I’m only 23 years old. I have a lot of time to make that.”

Welcome back to 96.1 The Eagle - Central New York’s Greatest Hits

It appears that you already have an account created within our VIP network of sites on . To keep your points and personal information safe, we need to verify that it's really you. To activate your account, please confirm your password. When you have confirmed your password, you will be able to log in through Facebook on both sites.

*Please note that your points, prizes and activities will not be shared between programs within our VIP network.

Welcome back to 96.1 The Eagle - Central New York’s Greatest Hits

It appears that you already have an account on this site associated with . To connect your existing account just click on the account activation button below. You will maintain your existing VIP profile. After you do this, you will be able to always log in to http://961theeagle.com using your original account information.